The present invention relates to Animatronics animation. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for animation of animatronics units using animation tools.
Throughout the years, movie makers have often tried to tell stories involving make-believe creatures, far away places, and fantastic things. To do so, they have often relied on animation techniques to bring the make-believe to “life.” Two of the major paths in animation have traditionally included, drawing-based animation techniques and stop motion animation techniques.
Drawing-based animation techniques were refined in the twentieth century, by movie makers such as Walt Disney and used in movies such as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937) and “Fantasia” (1940). This animation technique typically required artists to hand-draw (or paint) animated images onto a transparent media or cels. After painting, each cel would then be captured or recorded onto film as one or more frames in a movie.
Stop motion-based animation techniques typically required the construction of miniature sets, props, and characters. The filmmakers would construct the sets, add props, and position the miniature characters in a pose. After the animator was happy with how everything was arranged, one or more frames of film would be taken of that specific arrangement. Stop motion animation techniques were developed by movie makers such as Willis O'Brien for movies such as “King Kong” (1933). Subsequently, these techniques were refined by animators such as Ray Harryhausen for movies including “Mighty Joe Young” (1948) and Clash Of The Titans (1981).
With the wide-spread availability of computers in the later part of the twentieth century, animators began to rely upon computers to assist in the animation process. This included using computers to facilitate drawing-based animation, for example, by painting images, by generating in-between images (“tweening”), and the like. This also included using computers to augment stop motion animation techniques. For example, physical models could be represented by virtual models in computer memory, and manipulated.
One of the pioneering companies in the computer-aided animation (CA) industry was Pixar. Pixar is more widely known as Pixar Animation Studios, the creators of animated features such as “Toy Story” (1995) and “Toy Story 2” (1999), “A Bugs Life” (1998), “Monsters, Inc.” (2001), “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Cars” (2006), “Ratatouille” (2007) and others. In addition to creating animated features, Pixar developed computing platforms specially designed for CA, and CA software now known as RenderMan®. RenderMan® was well received in the animation industry and recognized with two Academy Awards®. The RenderMan® software included a “rendering engine” that “rendered” or converted geometric and/or mathematical descriptions of animated objects or characters into a two dimensional image.
The inventors of the present invention now desire to extend the reach of its animated characters beyond two-dimension images and into the third-dimension (e.g. the physical world). To do this, the inventors have been considering constructing and controlling of physical versions e.g. electrically, mechanically, hydraulically or pneumatically controlled devices of animated characters. The use of electronically-controlled mechanical devices for live entertainment purposes was pioneered by The Walt Disney Company and is now often referred to in the industry as “animatronics.” Animatronics characters have been used in many theme park attractions (e.g. rides, performances), such as Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” attraction, President Lincoln in “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” and many others.
A problem recognized by the inventors is that because animatronics units are used for specific purposes, the hardware cannot be purchased off-the-shelf, and must often be custom-built. Further, the software control of such animatronics units must also be custom-written for the hardware. In some cases, when the hardware is so complex, the animatronics robot must still be directly operated or controlled by humans.
One major concern recognized by the inventors for animatronics units is how “realistic” or “organic” the animatronics units look and move for viewers. In the past, some animatronics devices did not look “realistic” because they moved in a “mechanical” manner. Examples of mechanical motion include: portions of the robot repeatedly moving back and forth between a set number of positions; the mechanical devices moving haltingly into different positions; the mechanical devices moving in non-natural ways; and the like.
Most commercial animatronics units used for manufacturing cannot easily be used for animatronics applications. This is because such robots are often designed for very specific purposes, e.g. welding, moving parts, and the like, and not for artistic and aesthetic purposes. Another reason is that the software control systems are proprietary and only have very specific functions enabled. Still another reason is that manufacturers of commercial robots are not interested in having the robots look “realistic” or “organic,” and further, that the motion of the robot is often totally irrelevant. Accordingly, the inventors have recognized that commercial industrial robots do not now provide the level of hardware or software flexibility required for animatronics purposes.
In light of the above, what is desired are methods and apparatus providing animatronics control without the drawbacks described above.